Sea Veggies Rich In Nutrients

February 10, 1999|By Steve Petusevsky, Sun-Sentinel, South Florida.

Sea vegetables, or seaweed, are in many foods. They're used as stabilizers, thickening agents, emulsifiers and suspending agents in everything from ice pops to baked goods. It is only recently that their nutritional value and flavor attributes have been discovered. Sea vegetables are a rich source of iodine, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium, phosphorus and other nutrients.

There are dozens of sea vegetables, all of which have a clean briny flavor that ranges from mild in varieties such as wakame to much stronger-tasting varieties such as hijiki. Others you might try are nori, kelp, kombu and arame. Wakame may be a good place to start. Find it and other seaweed products in natural food stores and Asian markets.